New Direction
by Electric Monster
Summary: Kira is dead. Near is the new L. Matt and Mello are still alive. Mello got himself a girlfriend who really wants him to be a writer. This summary isn't too great. MelloXOC. Enjoy!


_**A/N: **I'm back from the dead guys omg. I like writing irrelevant things apparently. Of course, I own nothing but my OC. My proofreading skills are a little lacking, please correct me on any typos and whatnot~ If you're looking for plot, you have come to the wrong place. I see a slice of life... Please review! ^^_

* * *

It was his own fault. He should never have left it in such an obvious 'hiding' place. He was well aware of her curious nature; if he didn't want her to read it, he would have tried to hide it a little better.

That's what she was trying to convince herself of anyway.

Ricky sat on the sofa, 'case file' in hand and greedily soaking up the words on the pages.

She had quickly discovered two things: 1) this was not your average case file, and 2) Mello was actually a pretty talented author.

Of course, having grown up at Wammy's House, she had heard all about the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, and (after two years of persuasion and bothering Roger) she had been allowed to interview the genius behind the crime for one of her psychology essays under L's _very _close supervision. However, she had never heard the events told from this standpoint. His description of Beyond Birthday was also much different than she remembered from all those years ago.

"Well, he _was_ posing as L during all of this..." Ricky's mutterings sounded out of place in the silent apartment.

She clearly remembered the sickening crack his neck would make and the odd angle at which his head would hang. Both features mentioned in these notes. The image of his cruel grin suddenly appeared in her mind, a grin he had given a 14-year-old Ricky after she had asked him to explain his motivation for his crimes in his own words. The same grin he had given her again when she had audibly gasped after he had called her by her birth name. It was a grin she never wished to see again in her life. Despite this, though, she didn't believe he was an inherently cruel person. Sure, he was a little emotionally detached, but he wanted to be the best and was willing to do whatever it took to do it – simple as that.

"Now that I think about it," Ricky began, moving her gaze up from the notes to the muted TV, "Mello and Beyond Birthday have some pretty similar traits."

Now _that_ was a scary thought.

The young woman shivered at the thought that her headstrong companion might have turned out the way Beyond, unfortunately, did. He was so determined to best Near that it was a possibility that he would have taken that road.

The unlocking of the front door brought her out of her thoughts and signaled the arrival of her favourite blond maniac, home from...whatever he had been doing with Matt.

"Hey, moron!" He called out into the large and lifeless apartment as he closed the door behind him. "You home?"

"Living room!" Her softer voice called back. Mello dropped his keys into the bowl by the door and made his way through an ocean of discarded laundry to the second (smaller and much cosier) living room. Cheerful green eyes met an azure glare.

"You said you were doing laundry today," he stated, glowering. "Why is it all over the fucking floor?"

Ricky simply smiled and chirped, "I got distracted."

Mello raised an eyebrow at the 'moron' sprawled across the sofa. "Distracted by _what?_"

"You."

"Me?" He snapped off a piece of chocolate from his Hershey's bar (typical).

"Yeah, _you_." She held up the notes she had been reading for the last half an hour and Mello's scowl instantly returned.

"You know I hate people going through my stuff, Ricky. I don't give a damn that you're my girlfriend or that we're fucking living toget-"

"Woah, woah!" She interrupted. "Calm down, Mels. You left it on top of my laptop."

The speed at which his expression fell was almost comical.

"Oh," was all he could manage. He scratched the side of his neck and shifted under her amused gaze. "Sorry?"

"Is that a question or an apology?"

He sighed and shifted her into a sitting position, taking the now empty seat beside her. "It's an apology." He let her bite off a corner of his chocolate, very much against his wishes. "You know I'm not good at this stuff."

"It's fun to mess with you, though," Ricky grinned.

"Bitch."

She laughed and handed the notes back to him. "You should get that published."

Mello almost choked. "_What?_"

She nodded. "Think about it. It's one of L's greatest cases that the world doesn't know! He's been dead for eight years now, and so has Beyond Birthday. They can't exactly protest. Ever since the Kira investigation ended, you've been taking on more cases than you can really handle. You need a new thing."

Mello thought about it for a minute, staring at the TV with no sound. It wasn't as though she was making no sense.

"I don't know, Ricky. I don't really want it to become a novel, and I still enjoy detective work."

"Publish it as it is then, as notes."

"I don't think so."

Ricky sighed. "Listen, Mels, you love writing and you always have. I've seen you writing a lot lately when you think I'm not paying attention. You could even be a crime novelist, if nothing else! Detective work isn't going to keep you satisfied forever, and you'll probably have a heart attack and die from stress sooner or later. With writing, you'll be doing something you can really get lost in and enjoy. You're too talented to pass this up. Besides, crime fighting is starting to wear you out, Batman."

Mello chuckled. "The only stress that's going to give me a heart attack is when you go missing every other weekend and I'm left looking for you."

She smiled at him, leaning her head on his leather clad shoulder.

There was a brief silence as they both stared at the silent TV.

"Maybe I do need a new direction. I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

He lifted her head and placed a quick peck on her lips.

"Now," he smiled, "go do the laundry."


End file.
